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LOT 1248
Iconic and Well Documented Brace of H&K USP 9 Match Semi- Automatic Pistols as Documented from the Prop House as Angelina Jolie Staring as Lara Croft’s On-Film “Hero” Pistols from the 2001 Film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider -A) Heckler & Koch USP
9 Match Pistol - Serial no. 24-063928, 9 mm cal., 6 inch round (blank only) bbl., stainless steel finish, polymer grips. This iconic pair of Heckler & Koch USP 9 Match pistols are identified and documented by Tony Watts the former owner and Managing Director of Bapty & Co., the famous London based speciality prop house as having been modified and used for filming in the 2001 movie “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” starring Angelina Jolie, an adaptation of the legendary video game, “Tomb Raider”. This pair of pistols can be seen carried by Angelina Jolie as she portrays Lara Croft, including in the opening fight/training sequence of the movie in which Lara fights the robot Simon, which also highlights the two main modifications done to these pistols, allowing Jolie to duel wield, fire, and reload and release the slides with a pistol in each hand using magazines attached to her belt and the added ambidextrous slide releases. Due to the popularity of the Lara Croft character through video games and film, this pair of pistols have easily become one of the most iconic and easily recognizable pairs in recent pop culture, and become even more desirable as the only true pair of “hero” pistols used in the film. The included letter of provenance from Tony Watts, who purchased Bapty & Co. in 2000, best explains the story of these two pistols, and is presented in full as follows:
“These two Heckler & Koch USP Match pistols, serial numbers 24-063928 and 24-063929, were the main “Hero” pistols rented by Bapty & Co. for use by the Lara Croft character in the 2001 production of the
film ‘Tomb Raider’.
When the production’s Art Department first visited
Bapty in the per-production period for the film initial discussions focused on IMI Desert Eagle pistols being
needed for the Lara Croft character. On handling Desert Eagles it was realized that the sheer size and weight of that particular pistol would prove to be too much of a handful
for the action sequences the story entailed. After several options had been considered, a brace of Heckler & Koch
USP Match pistols that Bapty & Co. had recently purchased were selected. With these pistols there was the possibility of replacing the heavy metal barrel weights with rubber versions to help with stunts without compromising the
look when required.
Due to a famous action sequence where Lara had to fire with a
pistol in each hand until empty and with the slide held back, eject
the spent magazines and then drop onto a fresh pair of magazines on her belt, we had to modify this pair of pistols. A pair of ‘Jet’ funnels were purchased for the base of the grip to help guide in the fresh magazines from the belt and we manufactured custom made ambidextrous slide releases to enable the dropping of the slides for firing to continue after Lara’s reload.
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